| Frank Vignola |
Frank Vignola has to get to the airport to catch a plane for Oakland,
Calif. where he’ll play with star mandolinist Dave Grisman.
Before then on a sunny Veterans Day in New York he has football game to play on his front yard.
That’s all part of being the father in a family of six who earns his living playing guitar.
That means he plays more than 200 shows a year, around the globe. It
means having an active internet presence where he sells recordings and
educational DVDs.
While that new media has been crucial to his career, good old fashion
touring can’t be replaced. “You’ve got to get your music heard,” Vignola
said.
Not that Vignola would have it any other way. “Being able to meet people
and sign their CDs — I know it sounds corny and hooky, but I really
like that.”
It’ a lesson reenforced by his time jamming with Les Paul in New York
City. The legendary guitarist and inventor played weekly gigs well into
his 90s. He’d hang out until 3 a.m. talking with fans and signing
autograph.
Vignola values the clubs and halls around the world, large and small
that make that possible. Grounds for Thought in Bowling Green is one of
those. “I love that venue,” he said. “That’s a really, really great
scene. That book store is so cool.”
Vignola will bring his trio which includes fellow guitarists Vinny
Raniolo and Glenn Tosto to the shop at 174 S. Main St., Bowling Green,
for a show Thursday at 8 p.m.
Vignola has been touring under his own name for about six years, and
Bowling Green has been a key part of stop along the way. He first came
to town to play and teach at Bowling Green State University and later
played the Black Swamp Arts Festival and Grounds for Thought.
His usual format has been a duo, pared down from the Gypsy Grass band he
brought to town in 2008 to a duo Raniolo, his long-time rhythm
guitarist.
He likes the sound. It was more intimate, yet still full. “There’s not so much clouding the sound of the
guitars.”
And for Vignola there’s nothing quite like the sound of guitars.
Two can approximate the sound of an orchestra, but having 50 guitars playing together wouldn’t be too
much.
“The guitar is such a beautiful sounding instrument with a full rage of
dynamics,” he said. The duo “shows off our virtuosity… People can tune
into two guys better.”
He started adding Tosto for some events when a job required a trio. So he added another guitar.
The smaller ensemble is easier, not just logistically, but sonically as
well. “It’s easier to play when you don’t have to hit so hard,” Vignola
said.
The repertoire reflects his growing love of classical music. He fell in
love with classical music a few years ago, and started exploring its
harmonies and melodies and arranging it for jazz guitar.
His repertoire includes themes by Beethoven Mozart and Edvard Grieg.
“People kind of laugh,” he said of these unlikely renditions, “but by
the end people say ‘these guys are really serious.’”
Those classical gems will mix with a rock tune such as “Eye of the
Tiger,” or even something by Frank Zappa as well as popular standards
and swing tunes.
Vignola still finds room in his set list for the Django Reinhardt’s
“Nuages” and the standard “Limehouse,” both songs he picked up he first
was learning guitar while growing up in a music-loving Italian family.
”There’s all these great songs, why limit it to one genre,” he asked. “I
play what I like to play and don’t worry to much about marketing.”
Over the years, playing whenever and whatever he could, he’s learned “you’ve got to play music that is
heartfelt.”
A number of years ago, though, he did have a detour into smooth jazz. “I
was kind of directed in that direction” by recording industry
executives, he said.
He felt since he liked all kinds of music, he could make it work, but it
comes down to those records weren’t that good.” Still those
rock-inflections still, like everything else he’s encountered, “seeps
into my playing.”
It was another executive Joel Dorn who heard him playing with Bucky Pizzarelli, and encouraged him to
focus on acoustic jazz.
Vignola still has his electric guitars, but doesn’t do much with them.
Instead he and his cohorts play acoustic instruments with electric
pickups.
He handles booking and other details of the business on his own. ““I
spend as much time getting work and keeping in touch with people” as
performing, he said. That can be tiring as is the constant travel.
Sometimes, he said, he wakes up not knowing where he is.
“I get paid to travel,” he said, “not to play.”
He can be worn and tired as he heads to a job. Once he gets on stage,
though, he’s invigorated. “It gets the energy flowing,” Vignola said.
“Then you want to play some music … It’s still fun.”
